October, 17 2017, 11:45am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Dylan Voorhees 207.462.3221,,dylan@nrcm.org
Mainers Celebrate 45th Anniversary of Clean Water Act
Describe Enormous Progress and Serious Threats to Clean Water in Maine.
Lewiston, ME
Today on the banks of the Androscoggin, once labeled the most polluted river in America, a diverse group of Mainers described the importance of the Clean Water Act. The Act became law on October 18, 1972, when Congress voted to override President Nixon's veto of the bill. This landmark law was a crowning accomplishment for Maine U.S. Senator Edmund Muskie, who grew up in Rumford and was riled into action because our rivers were being treated as open sewers. His determination to act resulted in one of the nation's most important environmental laws.
"Senator Muskie's leadership put the nation on a path that brought life back to dead waterways, protected human health, increased recreation opportunities, expanded economic opportunities in riverside communities, improved real-estate property values, and contributed to the quality of life of millions of Americans nationwide. For that, we are enormously grateful," said NRCM Executive Director Lisa Pohlmann.
Before the Clean Water Act, Maine had no sewage treatment plants. The stench along our polluted waterways depressed real estate values and left retail stores in communities near polluted waters deserted in the summer months. The sulfite-laden air blackened silver products in jewelry stores. The toxic fumes peeled paint off buildings, while the odors, which were noticed 20 miles from the river, sickened people. And when the weather was hot, dissolved oxygen in the river plummeted, killing essentially all fish and wildlife in the Androscoggin, as well as the Kennebec and Penobscot.
"We have come an enormous way since the Clean Water Act became law. Today is a day for celebrating that progress, acknowledging the vital role that Senator Muskie and the state of Maine played in passing the Clean Water Act, and focusing on the threats to clean water that require continued leadership from Maine's elected officials," added Pohlmann.
Bates College Chemistry Professor Walter Lawrence played a significant role in helping Senator Muskie and state leaders understand how polluted our rivers had become. Lawrence produced detailed reports based on daily water samples from hundreds of sampling stations along the Androscoggin. Through the 1960s, Maine's industrial rivers were classified as Class D, described in state regulations as: "primarily for use in transportation of wastes."
Although the U.S. House and Senate voted nearly unanimously in 1972 for the Clean Water Act, President Nixon vetoed the bill on October 17, 1972. Veto override votes by the Senate and House occurred on October 17 and 18, 1972, respectively. The Senate voted 52-12 to override, with 36 Senators not voting. The House voted 247-23 to override, and the bill became law.
The Androscoggin and other Maine rivers and lakes are cleaner today than they were 40 years ago thanks to the Clean Water Act, which gave the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to force polluting industries and towns to treat waste and sewage before discharging it.
Now, these basic safeguards and other federal laws that protect Maine waters are under attack. Here are a few examples; see attached document for more:
- Trump's EPA budget proposed the elimination of non-point source pollution grants, which states like Maine depend on to reduce polluted runoff that includes pesticides, fertilizers, and other nutrients. This type of runoff represents the largest pollution threat to Maine's lakes. Trump's EPA budget also proposed deep cuts to state grants for water monitoring, assessment, and management.
- Scott Pruitt's EPA is leading an attack on the Clean Water Rule, which extends Clean Water Act protections to smaller waterways, tributaries, and wetlands. One-third of Mainers get their drinking water from sources that rely on small streams protected by this rule.
- Pruitt is also delaying multiple rules that reduce airborne mercury and other air pollution from power plants. Mercury is a neurotoxin found in Maine's lakes, rivers, fish, and wildlife, primarily due to power plant pollution from other states. Maine depends on strong federal laws and the EPA to limit pollution coming from other states.
"We urge Senators Collins and King to continue to support strong federal clean water protections, including full funding of the Environmental Protection Agency," said Pohlmann. "Clean, healthy waterways are vital to our day-to-day lives in Maine. They help ensure safe drinking water, suitable habitat for fish and other wildlife, and recreational opportunities that make Maine a special place in which to live, work, play, and visit."
For more information about the threats facing Maine's clean water, see the attached document.
Dick Anderson, a young fisheries biologist for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in the 1960s, today recalls how polluted the Androscoggin had become. "We paddled the Androscoggin from the New Hampshire border to Brunswick, and it was a revolting task. Every bit of waste and sewage was dumped into the river. At least seven paper mills were dumping untreated waste into the river, as were tanneries and towns. We traveled through this disgusting mess, and look at it now! We can feel proud today on the 45th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, written and championed by our great Maine Senator, Edmund Muskie."
Rebecca Swanson Conrad, President and CEO of the Lewiston-Auburn Metro Chamber of Commerce, today described how important the revitalized, cleaner Androscoggin River is for both Lewiston and Auburn. "I marvel at how far we have come over the past 50 years. Look at the investments we've made in the Bates Mill, Auburn Riverwalk, and the businesses, hotels, and homes along this majestic river. In the 1960s, we were not considering the environmental impact of the river on our future economy. The Androscoggin was dead, but it has come back to life in no small part because of Senator Muskie and the Clean Water Act. And with that recovery, Lewiston and Auburn have made the river central to our economic future. We are so thankful for the many people, organizations, and elected leaders who helped deliver the great progress that we have seen. It stands as a testament to how important a clean environment is to a healthy economy."
Lynne Lewis, Elmer W. Campbell Professor of Economics at Bates College, today spoke about the economic benefits that clean water provides to Maine. "The Clean Water Act provides billions of dollars in economic benefits annually, by protecting water that we drink, live near, and fish and play in. For a state like Maine that is literally filled with rivers, lakes, streams, and coastline, clean water provides enormous economic value to our state in the form of reduced health care costs, improved recreational opportunities and tourism, property values, and tax revenues to the state. From my research and that of others, it is clear that clean water significantly increases waterfront property values for both homeowners and businesses. Thriving businesses and community events take place along rivers such as this. These revenue sources did not exist before the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act has resulted in a rebounding of river herring and other sea-run fish, contributing to the health of our Gulf of Maine fisheries. Our lakes contribute an estimated $3.5 billion to Maine's economy annually, supporting 52,000 jobs, and clean coastal waters support the thousands of lobstering and fishing jobs that deliver landings of more than $700 million annually."
Natalie Lounsbury, who grew up in Auburn, recalls attending meetings with her mother, Bonnie, where the discussions focused on "color, odor, and foam." Natalie and Bonnie now have a farm along the Androscoggin in Turner and Natalie is also a PhD student in natural resources at the University of New Hampshire. Today Natalie said, "Nearly all water that reaches rivers passes through or over soil. As we celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, and as we continue our efforts to protect Maine's waters, it's important to support land managers and farmers in implementing practices like cover crops and riparian buffers that help keep our waters clean."
The Natural Resources Council of Maine is the leading nonprofit membership organization working statewide for clean air and water; healthy people, wildlife and forests; and clean energy solutions. NRCM harnesses the power of science, the law, and the voices of more than 12,000 supporters to protect the nature of Maine. Visit NRCM online at www.nrcm.org.
LATEST NEWS
Climate Crisis to Cost Global Economy $38 Trillion a Year by 2050
"This clearly shows that protecting our climate is much cheaper than not doing so, and that is without even considering noneconomic impacts such as loss of life or biodiversity," a new study's lead author said.
Apr 18, 2024
The climate crisis will shrink the average global income 19% in the next 26 years compared to what it would have been without global heating caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels, a study published in Nature Wednesday has found.
The researchers, from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), said that economic shrinkage was largely locked in by mid-century by existing climate change, but that actions taken to reduce emissions now could determine whether income losses hold steady at around 20% or triple through the second half of the century.
"These near-term damages are a result of our past emissions," study lead author and PIK scientist Leonie Wenz said in a statement. "We will need more adaptation efforts if we want to avoid at least some of them. And we have to cut down our emissions drastically and immediately—if not, economic losses will become even bigger in the second half of the century, amounting to up to 60% on global average by 2100."
"I am used to my work not having a nice societal outcome, but I was surprised by how big the damages were."
Put in dollar terms, the climate crisis will take a yearly $38 trillion chunk out of the global economy in damages by 2050, the study authors found.
"That seems like… a lot," writer and climate advocate Bill McKibben wrote in response to the findings. "The entire world economy at the moment is about $100 trillion a year; the federal budget is about $6 trillion a year."
This means that the costs of inaction have already exceeded the costs of limiting global heating to 2°C by six times, the study authors said. However, limiting warming to 2°C can still significantly reduce economic losses through 2100.
"This clearly shows that protecting our climate is much cheaper than not doing so, and that is without even considering noneconomic impacts such as loss of life or biodiversity," Wenz said.
The damages predicted by the study were more than twice those of similar analyses because the researchers looked beyond national temperature data to also incorporate the impacts of extreme weather and rainfall on more than 1,600 subnational regions over a 40-year period, The Guardian explained.
"Strong income reductions are projected for the majority of regions, including North America and Europe, with South Asia and Africa being most strongly affected," PIK scientist and first author Maximilian Kotz said in a statement. "These are caused by the impact of climate change on various aspects that are relevant for economic growth such as agricultural yields, labor productivity, or infrastructure."
However, Wenz told the paper that the paper's projected reduction was likely a "lower bound" because the study still doesn't include climate impacts such as heatwaves, tropical storms, sea-level rise, and harms to human health.
Unlike previous studies, the research predicted economic losses for most wealthier countries in the Global North, with the U.S. and German economies shrinking by 11% by mid-century, France's by 13%, and the U.K.'s by 7%. However, the countries set to suffer the most are countries closer to the equator that have lower incomes already and have historically done much less to contribute to the climate crisis. Iraq, for example, could see incomes drop by 30%, Botswana 25%, and Brazil 21%.
"Our study highlights the considerable inequity of climate impacts: We find damages almost everywhere, but countries in the tropics will suffer the most because they are already warmer," study co-author Anders Levermann, who leads Research Department Complexity Science at PIK, said in a statement. "Further temperature increases will therefore be most harmful there. The countries least responsible for climate change, are predicted to suffer income loss that is 60% greater than the higher-income countries and 40% greater than higher-emission countries. They are also the ones with the least resources to adapt to its impacts."
Wenz told The Guardian that the results were "devastating."
"I am used to my work not having a nice societal outcome, but I was surprised by how big the damages were. The inequality dimension was really shocking," Wenz said.
Levermann said the paper presented society with a clear choice:
It is on us to decide: Structural change towards a renewable energy system is needed for our security and will save us money. Staying on the path we are currently on, will lead to catastrophic consequences. The temperature of the planet can only be stabilized if we stop burning oil, gas, and coal.
McKibben, meanwhile, argued that the findings should persuade major companies to embrace climate action for self-interested reasons. He noted that most corporate emissions come from how company money is invested by banks, particularly in the continued exploitation of fossil fuel resources.
"If Amazon and Apple and Microsoft wanted to avoid a world where, by century's end, people had 60% less money to spend on buying whatever phones and software and weird junk (doubtless weirder by then) they plan on selling, then they should be putting pressure on their banks to stop making the problem worse. They should also be unleashing their lobbying teams to demand climate action from Congress," McKibben wrote.
"These people are supposed to care about money, and for once it would help us if they actually did," he continued. "Stop putting out ads about how green your products are—start making this system you dominate actually work."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Congressional Progressives Unveil 'Bold' Agenda for Second Biden Term
The Congressional Progressive Caucus says its legislative blueprint for 2025 and beyond aims to "deliver equality, justice, and economic security for working people."
Apr 18, 2024
The Congressional Progressive Caucus on Thursday published a "comprehensive domestic policy legislative agenda" for U.S. President Joe Biden's possible second White House term that seeks to "deliver equality, justice, and economic security for working people."
The CPC's Progressive Proposition Agenda is a seven-point plan aimed at lowering the cost of living, boosting wages and worker power, advancing justice, combating climate change and protecting the environment, strengthening democracy, breaking the corporate stranglehold on the economy, and bolstering public education.
"Progressives are proud to have been part of the most significant Democratic legislative accomplishments of this century. We have made real progress for everyday Americans—but there's much more work to be done," Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said in a statement.
"That's why the Progressive Caucus has identified these popular, populist, and possible solutions," she added. "Democrats in Congress can meet the urgent needs people are facing; rewrite the rules to ensure majorities of this country are no longer barred from the American promise of equality, justice, and economic opportunity; and motivate people with a vision of progressive governance under Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and a Democratic White House."
Progressive lawmakers have already introduced bills for many items on the agenda, including a Green New Deal for Public Schools, expanding the Supreme Court, comprehensive voting rights protection, and legalizing marijuana.
Critics noted the conspicuous absence of Medicare for All—once a top progressive agenda item—and foreign policy issues including ending Israel's genocide, apartheid, occupation, settler colonization, and ethnic cleansing in Palestine.
Jayapal toldNBC News that the CPC is focusing its blueprint exclusively on domestic goals—especially ones it feels can be achieved.
"The way we came to this agenda is to say that we were going to put into this agenda things that were populist and possible... and affected a huge number of people," she said. "We haven't taken a position on particularly Israel and Gaza in the progressive caucus, and so that's not on here."
The CPC agenda is backed by a wide range of labor, climate, environmental, civil rights, consumer, faith-based, and other organizations.
"The Congressional Progressive Caucus is leading the way for Congress to address the major issues affecting working families, from reducing healthcare and housing costs to strengthening workers' rights to join unions, earn living wages and benefits, and have safe workplaces," Service Employees International Union president Mary Kay Henry said in a statement.
"SEIU is proud to partner with the CPC to move these priorities forward and build a more equitable economy in which corporations are held accountable for their actions," she added.
Mary Small, chief strategy officer at Indivisible, said: "House progressives were the engine at the heart of our legislative accomplishments in 2021 and 2022. They've continued that momentum to be true governing partners to the Biden administration as those laws and programs are implemented."
"That's why Indivisible is so supportive of the CPC's Proposition Agenda, a bold vision for progressive governance in 2025 and beyond. From reproductive rights to saving our democracy to economic security for all, the CPC is driving forward exactly the sort of legislative goals we want to see in our next governing moment."
That moment is far from guaranteed, with not only the White House hanging in the balance as Biden will all but certainly face former Republican President Donald Trump in November's election but also the Senate Democratic Caucus clinging to a single-seat advantage over the GOP. Republicans currently hold the House of Representatives by a five-seat margin.
Keep ReadingShow Less
'McCarthyism Is Alive and Well': Google Fires 28 for Protesting Israel Contract
"These mass, illegal firings will not stop us," said organizers. "Make no mistake, we will continue organizing until the company drops Project Nimbus and stops powering this genocide."
Apr 18, 2024
The peace coalition No Tech for Apartheid accused Google of a "flagrant act of retaliation" late Wednesday night as the Silicon Valley giant announced it had fired 28 workers over protests against its cloud services contract with the Israeli government.
The firings came after Google organizers held two 10-hour sit-ins at the company's offices in Sunnyvale, California and New York City, demanding the termination of Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract under which Google and Amazon provide cloud infrastructure and data services for Israel—without any oversight regarding whether the Israel Defense Forces uses the services in its occupation of Palestinian territories and bombardment of Gaza.
Workers have denounced Project Nimbus since it was announced in 2021, but Israel's killing of at least 33,970 Palestinians in Gaza since October and its intentional starvation of civilians led employees to escalate their protests.
No Tech for Apartheid said in a statement that Google officials called the police to both offices to arrest nine protesters—dubbed the Nimbus Nine—on Tuesday morning, before utilizing "a dragnet of in-office surveillance" to fire nearly two dozen other employees on Wednesday.
"They punished all of the workers they could associate with this action in wholesale firings," said the coalition, which includes Jewish Voice for Peace and MPower Change, a Muslim-led anti-war group.
Google accused the workers of "bullying," "harassment," defacing property, and physically impeding other employees—allegations No Tech for Apartheid rejected as it noted organizers "have yet to hear from a single executive about" their concerns over Google's collaboration with Israel.
"This excuse to avoid confronting us and our concerns directly, and attempt to justify its illegal, retaliatory firings, is a lie," said the workers. "Even the workers who were participating in a peaceful sit-in and refusing to leave did not damage property or threaten other workers. Instead they received an overwhelmingly positive response and shows of support."
The organizers staged the sit-ins on the heels of reporting in Time magazine about new negotiations between Google and the Israeli government regarding further potential tech contracts.
Kate J. Sim, a child safety policy adviser at Google who said she was among those fired this week, said the terminations show "how terrified [executives] are of worker power."
Google employees have a history of harnessing worker power to change policies at the company. In 2018, Google terminated a deal with the U.S. Defense Department to develop drone and artificial intelligence (AI) technology through a contract called Project Maven. The decision followed the resignations of several employees and the condemnation of thousands of workers.
Calling Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian "genocide profiteers," No Tech for Apartheid said Wednesday that they will not stop demonstrating against Project Nimbus until they get a similar result.
"The truth is clear: Google is terrified of us," said the group. "They are terrified of workers coming together and calling for accountability and transparency from our bosses... The corporation is trying to downplay and discredit our power.
"These mass, illegal firings will not stop us," No Tech for Apartheid added. "On the contrary, they only serve as further fuel for the growth of this movement. Make no mistake, we will continue organizing until the company drops Project Nimbus and stops powering this genocide."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular